Swedish Win Makes Grundstrom UNO's Fifth 2009 National Champion

LINKOPING, Sweden - University of New Orleans head swimming and diving coach Randy Horner's list of national champions on the roster grew to five on Thursday night in Sweden as Jonas Grundstrom claimed the 1500 free at the Swedish Nationals.

Grundstrom touched the wall in a time of 16:25.94. The redshirt freshman's result was nearly nine seconds faster than silver medalist Gabriel Bertrand (16:34.57) and just under 18 seconds before third-place finisher Victor Westerlund (16:43.92).

Seeded sixth heading into the event with a time of 16:41.47, Grundstrom automatically moved past the Thursday morning heats to the evening's timed finals. Trailing Bertrand for the first 500 meters, Grundstrom took the lead for good at the 600 meter mark.

On Wednesday, Grundstrom placed 12th in the 200 free prelims with a time of 1:57.47, missing the cut for the finals that night. Two events remain at the championships for the Privateer, who will compete in the 200 fly on Saturday and 800 free on Sunday.

Other UNO national champions this year include a trio of rising sophomores in Birkir Mar Jonsson, Eva Hannesdottir and Jarryd Gregoire.

Jonsson won three events at the Iceland National Championships in March while Hannesdottir took first place in a single event. Gregoire joined in on the accolades, winning three events at the Trinidad Nationals in early June.

Incoming freshman Phillip Graeter rounds out the group, after winning the 400 IM at the German junior nationals on June 29th.